How to Immigrate to Canada Without a Job

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How to Immigrate to Canada Without a Job – Many people don’t like going through the stress looking for a job in Canada before moving and some of them feel discouraged about applying for immigration as they see having a job offer as a compulsory criterion to move to Canada. Well, you can immigrate to Canada without a job.

Even the most popular immigration program in Canada doesn’t need you to have a job offer to qualify for the program although having a job offer will increase your chances of successfully immigrating to Canada. Do you want to know the immigration programs you can go through to immigrate to Canada without a job? Then don’t stop reading.

A job offer just fast tracks your application process but if you have the skill and experience and you are ready to contribute to the growth and development of the Canadian economy, you will definitely get a chance to immigrate to Canada.

Canada has extended its immigration target to welcome over 1.23 million immigrants to the country from 2021 to 2023 meaning that you can be among the lucky immigrants to move to Canada even without a job.

In this article, we will be showing you some immigration programs that you can go through if you want to immigrate to Canada without a job offer. Not that you shouldn’t have a job offer when going through these programs but a job offer is not a prerequisite to be eligible through this program. Just be a skilled or semi-skilled worker and you will stand a chance to immigrate to Canada.

So let’s proceed…

How You Can Immigrate To Canada Without A Job

We will be looking at five ways you can actually immigrate to Canada without a job and they are:

  • Express Entry System
  • Provincial Nominee Program
  • Study permit
  • Business Immigration Stream
  • Family Sponsorship

The Express Entry system

This is one of the easiest and quickest immigration programs in Canada as it takes only about 6months to process. The program was initiated in 2015 and since then, it has been one of the most popular Immigration programs in the country and a large number of immigrants have come into Canada through this program.

It is an online immigration program through which you can get permanent residence in Canada. In the program, there are some requirements you will have to meet in creating and completing your online profile and they are age, education, work experience, proof of sufficient funds and language proficiency. In this program, you don’t really need a job offer to apply just that getting a job offer from any employer in Canada will increase your chances of being selected…

You will have to complete your profile within 60days and after this, you will be placed in a pool with other applicants and eligible visa applicants will be scored according to factors or requirements they filled in their online profile. If you are eligible, you will be ranked according to a ranking system known as the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

The Comprehensive Ranking system (CRS) is a ranking system where applicants for the Canadian visa will be given a CRS score to match against a CRS cut-off score and the applicants that meet or exceed the cut-off score will be selected.

In the entry system, there is always another chance for you even if you were not successful at the first time. The Express Entry draws are done twice a month and you have a chance to participate in another draw if you were not successful in the first draw. But in boosting your chances of being chosen in the next draw, you will have to improve you CRS score.

There are three federal immigration streams under the Express Entry System and they are:

  • Federal Skilled Trades Program
  • Federal Skilled Worker Program
  • Canadian Experience Class

 

How Can You Immigrate To Canada Without A Job Through The Express Entry System?

Under the Express Entry system, you can go through either the Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Federal Skilled Trades Program if you don’t have a job offer from an employer in the country.

 

The Federal Skilled Worker Program

The FSWP is a program that is designed for immigrants with training, skills and experience who are willing to contribute to the workforce of Canada. Canada is on a quest for continuous development and so the government has created over 100 immigration programs to help invite over 1.23 million immigrants to Canada within the next three years and the Federal Skilled Worker Program is one of them.

This program is for any skilled worker in any field aside trade jobs and agriculture. So even without a job offer, you can immigrate through this program as long as your occupation is among the occupations in demand in any of the provinces in Canada. But there are some requirements you will need to meet.

There requirements for the FSWP are:

    • You must have a paid skilled work experience of at least one year as a dentist (30hours/week) for full-time and for part-time it could be (15hours/week)
    • You must have an education certificate of high school diploma or degree from secondary school or post-secondary school in Canada and if you have a foreign certificate, it must be equivalent to the Canadian standard and so you will have to go through the Educational Credential Assessment to check the credentials.
  • You must take the approved language test in English or French in writing, speaking, listening or reading and you must get a minimum score of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in all abilities.
  • You must prove that you have sufficient funds to help you settle in Canada and also take care of any other family member coming with you unless you have a valid job offer
  • You must successfully pass the security background check which shows that you have no criminal record and also pass the medical examination check meaning that you are in good health.

You will also need to attach some documents when applying for this Express Entry program. These documents are:

  • Means of identification (travel documents or passport)
  • Birth certificate or record
  • Medical clearance certificate
  • Language proficiency test results for TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS ( International English Language Testing System) or TEF (Test d’ Evaluation de Francias)
  • Educational Credentials Assessment
  • Police clearance report

 

The Federal Skilled Trades Program

The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for qualified trades workers who want to become permanent residents of Canada. Trade jobs include electricians, plumbers, welders, mechanics, fashion designers etc. When applying through this program, you will not necessarily need a job offer for you to be eligible.

Let’s list out the requirements for this program:

    • You should have a paid work experience of at least two years whether part-time or full-time
    • There is no educational requirement for a skilled trade worker but having it can increase you score.
    • You must meet the required language level in English or French in each language ability (speaking, writing, reading and listening)
  • You should have sufficient funds to support you to settle in Canada and also take care of any other family member coming with you unless you have a valid job offer
  • You must successfully pass the security background check meaning you have no criminal record
  • You must pass the medical examination check meaning you are in sound health

The Provincial Nominee Program

The PNP is a program for provinces in Canada to nominate immigrants to the province. It is designed by the provincial governments in partnership with the Canadian government through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to help foreigners find work and settle in a particular province.

Each province sets its own requirements according to its economic needs and labour shortages. The Provincial Nomination programs enable employers to hire foreign skilled workers to come fill up labour shortages in the province.

Foreign workers with the right skills will be nominated to get permanent residence. This program will allow you to live and work in a province in Canada if you have a job offer and meet the requirements of that particular province but there are some Provincial Nomination Programs in Canada where you don’t really need a job offer.

Some of the provincial nomination programs where you don’t need a job offer are:

  • Ontario Human Capital Priorities Stream
  • Nova Scotia Demand- Express Entry Stream
  • Alberta Express Entry Stream
  • Manitoba Skilled Worker Stream
  • Saskatchewan International Skilled Worker Category

During your application through this program under the PNP linked with Express Entry, you will have to show an expression of interest in a particular province for you to be nominated and so you don’t necessarily need a job offer.

Business Immigration Stream

You can also immigrate to Canada without a job through the Business Immigration Program. This is actually something you can try also because it is a good idea especially as Canada is looking to get back on track at this post-pandemic era.

The pandemic stalled a lot of activities in Canada and also slow down the economic growth in the country so establishing a business in Canada means you are out and ready to contribute to the growth of the economy and its continuous development; and this is one of the factors that increases your chances and success of immigrating to the country.

The programs that fall under the Business Immigration Streams are:

  • Self-Employed Program
  • PNP Entrepreneur Visa Streams
  • Start-up Visa

Study And Stay In Canada

Another way to immigrate to Canada without a job is if you want to study in Canada. Canada is actually accepting international students that either want to get their first degree or further their education like post-graduates.

Getting a study permit is another way you can immigrate to Canada without a job though not directly.

You can choose to study at a designated learning institution in Canada where you will have an option to study and work in Canada under the Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) program. You will just have to choose a course that has a long duration so you can actually study and work for long in Canada to get a work experience of at least one year so that you can be able to apply for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

With the experience you get while working and studying, you will have an edge when applying for permanent residence in Canada but for you to go through this pathway; you should be at least 18 years of age.

Family Sponsorship

This is one program that allows a citizen of Canada or a permanent resident of Canada to sponsor their family members. You can actually go through this program if you have someone in Canada that is either a citizen or permanent resident.

You’re eligible to sponsor someone to immigrate to Canada if:

  • You’re 18 years and older
  • You‘re a Canadian, person registered under the Canadian Indian Act or permanent resident of Canada
  • You can prove that you aren’t receiving social assistance unless it’s for a disability
  • You can provide for the basic and essential needs of whoever you intend sponsoring.

If you are eligible, you may sponsor the following family members:

  • Your  spouse
  • Common-law partner
  • Your conjugal partner
  • Your dependent children.

A major benefit of receiving a sponsorship is that you are able to move to Canada as a permanent resident and you don’t really need a job offer to immigrate.

Final Note

You now know that you can immigrate to Canada without a job and some of the most popular immigration programs in Canada offer you this opportunity. So if you do want to go through the stress of looking for a job before moving to Canada, you can look at the immigration programs and streams we have highlighted in this article so you can see the program you are eligible for even without a job offer.

Although like we have said that having a job offer will increase your chances of successfully immigrating to Canada and if you want to get a job first before immigrating to Canada, you will have to start your application for jobs now as there are a lot of job opportunities in Canada and these employers are looking for immigrants that will come and fill up labour shortages.

Check out your eligibility status and see if you qualify for any of the programs we have highlighted in this article.